Trump's new Ukraine adviser urged peace deal without NATO membership or restored borders
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Retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg at the White House on Sept. 22, 2020 in Washington, DC. Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, President elect-Trump's pick for special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, has pushed a proposal to end the war between the two countries through NATO ruling out membership for Ukraine "for an extended period" and Ukraine putting off its goal of reclaiming its lost territory.
Why it matters: Trump named Kellogg as his choice for special envoy on Wednesday, months after Reuters reported on Kellogg's policy plan in June. The plan for a ceasefire signals U.S. support for the war effort would be scaled back.
- It also would mark a shift from the Biden administration's stance on the war and could be met with pushback from European allies.
Zoom in: Kellogg, who served as national security adviser to former Vice President Mike Pence, co-authored a research report detailing his Ukraine policy proposal with former NSA chief of staff Fred Fleitz.
- "The United States would continue to arm Ukraine and strengthen its defenses to ensure Russia will make no further advances and will not attack again after a cease-fire or peace agreement," Kellogg and Fleitz state in the plan.
- But future U.S. military aid will require Ukraine to participate in peace talks with Russia, according to the report.
- To convince Russian President Vladimir Putin to join peace talks, "President Biden and other NATO leaders should offer to put off NATO membership for Ukraine for an extended period in exchange for a comprehensive and verifiable peace deal with security guarantees," the pair wrote.
- Meanwhile, Ukraine "would not be asked to relinquish the goal of regaining all its territory," but would agree to try to do so through diplomacy, with the recognition it probably won't happen until after Putin leaves office.
The big picture: Trump has vowed to end the war in Ukraine using his personal relationship with Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to get a peace deal.
- With just two months until Trump is inaugurated, Biden has ditched his own guardrails limiting Kyiv's use of U.S. weapons.
- Russia, meanwhile, has responded by revising a nuclear doctrine to effectively lower the country's threshold for using nuclear weapons — a move sparking MAGA fears of "World War III" and testing Trump's warning to Putin not to escalate the conflict.
In announcing his pick Wednesday, Trump said on Truth Social that Kellogg, 80, has been "with me right from the beginning!"
- He added, "Together, we will secure PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH, and Make America, and the World, SAFE AGAIN!"
Go deeper: Ukraine's lame duck danger: Biden and Putin escalate before Trump arrives
Editor's note: This story was updated to more precisely reflect Kellogg's comments. Kellogg and Fleitz wrote that Ukraine should agree not to try to regain its territory by force under a peace deal, not that it should cede its territory to Russia, as the article previously stated.
